Just to evidence how difficult the market is, the top accountancy firm Pricewaterhouse Coopers today revealed that it anticipates receiving up to  30,000 applications for the 1,200 training contracts on offer, so a less than 1 in 25 chance of succeeding for graduates.

The one piece of positive news for accountants, as opposed to lawyers, where the job market is not so good, is that the demand for qualified accountants seems to have remained fairly good, although this in turn could change as the ongoing economic turmoil takes it’s toll.

The suggestion that the job market for qualified and experienced accountants remains quite good comes from the large recruitment company, Reed. It publishes a monthly employment index, which makes very interesting reading and which can be found here.

Graduates would be well advised to carefully look at all the available data and there has never been a more important time to do due diligence on careers and career prospects, certainly if the legal sector is anything to go by. frankly, whilst law is an interesting career, for the most part it is far from the safe, stable and guaranteed well paid career it once was.

We write on many blogs about our view that there is a moral crumbling going on in society which probably started some years ago, but which is picking up pace as the cracks widen in society due to the negative economic conditions.

There are always good and bad behaviours, the point we are making is that there is a lot of evidence that more of us will lie, cheat and bend the rules more than ever before. Whether this is due to consumerism, breakdown of family ties, schooling or technology is another debate but certainly, the way we approach job applications is as good an indicator as anything else.

Below are some interesting facts found in a survey by Monster.com :-

• 17% of UK employees would act unethically to get ahead at work.
• 8% would be prepared to act in an underhand manner
• 4% would go expressly against company policy
• 5% are prepared to break the law.

In another survey by LondonlovesBusiness.com 10% of employees stated that they have taken illegal drugs at work.

What do you think about these issues ? Please let us know.

Equal pay is one of the most difficult areas for lawyers to advise clients on, whether employers or employees. Statistics clearly show that in macro terms, men still get paid more than women, but it can be difficult in many cases to prove any disparity is not due to differences in work and such like.

An important case which has now reached the Supreme Court and is due to be heard next month may provide some clearer guidance in this area.

The case concerns dinner ladies employed by Sheffield City Council, who, as things stand, based on a court of Appeal ruling, have proved they are being indirectly discriminated against. What is interesting and important about this case is that due to the nature of their job, their chosen “comparators” to claim pay discrimination has had to be men who do not undertake the same work as them, but are at a similar employment strata. Consequently, the outcome of this case is likely to impact on workers where more specialist roles tend to be undertaken almost exclusively by separate groups of men or women. The argument is essentially whether statistics for pay in this case and almost disregarding certain factors such as performance pay, which more readily lend themselves to certain roles, should be the approach, in which case many women will benefit. Most cases tend to relate to Local authority and NHS workers.

It will be interesting to see what the outcome is, we will keep readers updated.